In People v Price, Mr. Kirk Price was trying to get out of a conviction based on where he was arrested when he had in his possession a firearm, contrary to the terms of his probation order. He was not allowed to have a firearm outside of his abode. He was caught with a firearm while spending the night at his sister's residence, at "11135 South Ashland".

Justice Gallagher:

"[A]bode is a place with which one has significant and persisting contacts, i.e., a place that a person considers his home and where he intends to live on a more than transient basis.

"Accordingly, while the ordinary meaning of abode — standing alone without a modifier such as permanent or temporary preceding it — always encompasses one's domicile or places of legal or permanent residence, the term also includes those places with which a person has established significant contacts through continuous or extended habitation. Under this definition, a person who merely spends the occasional night someplace, even if he does so regularly, cannot be said to have established such substantial and uninterrupted ties with that location as to make it his abode....

"[A]bode is a place of residence where an individual maintains substantial and long-lasting contacts — i.e., his home....

"Although under this definition it is true that an individual may have more than one abode, it does not follow that any place a defendant spends the night as a guest qualifies as his abode.

"In the instant case, by defendant's own admission, he was never anything more than a guest at 11135 South Ashland. He does not contend that he lived there. Further, he does not contend that he kept a substantial portion of his belongings there; he instead merely asserts that, as an overnight guest, he likely had some belongings on the premises. We decline to hold that the mere possibility that a self-proclaimed guest might bring some personal effects with him when visiting a place constitutes establishing such substantial and long-lasting ties with a place as to make it his abode. Accordingly, we affirm defendant's conviction for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon because he possessed a firearm while not in his abode."

If you find an error or omission in Duhaime's Law Dictionary, or if you have suggestion for a legal term, we'd love to hear from you!

LAWimage

Sort By:

The template you are linking to has no template configured yet.

Duhaime Lawisms

Lawyers, I suppose, were children once.
Charles Lamb (1775-1834) in The Old Benchers of the Inner Temple

Expand Navigation

Unless otherwise noted, this article was written by Lloyd Duhaime, Barrister, Solicitor, Attorney and Lawyer (and Notary Public!). It is not intended to be legal advice and you would be foolhardy to rely on it in respect to any specific situation you or an acquaintance may be facing. In addition, the law changes rapidly and sometimes with little notice so from time to time, an article may not be up to date. Therefore, this is merely legal information designed to educate the reader. If you have a real situation, this information will serve as a good springboard to get legal advice from a lawyer.